Countless businesses have benefited from CRM software that trace their roots to ACT!, which was developed in 1986 as a contact management service. Today, the software has evolved to offer more than just contact management. It now provides capabilities for prospect tracking and marketing automation as well.
However versatile ACT! is today, you must also consider the features of other CRM tools to make sure that you’re choosing the right software. In this article, we’ll list the 10 best ACT! alternatives to help you make an informed decision.
What is ACT! Software?
Previously known as Sage ACT!, ACT! software offers various features that help companies streamline their CRM and marketing processes. The platform allows users to build a detailed contact database and track interactions. This way, agents and reps can easily personalize their interactions with prospects and customers.
The platform also provides automated marketing tools. Users can set up automated steps for each stage of the sales funnel to ensure more effective lead nurturing. Moreover, this automation helps agents and team leaders spend more time on high-value tasks.
Additionally, real-time dashboards on key performance metrics keep managers and executives updated so they can make informed, data-based decisions. The platform deftly combines CRM and marketing functions into a single hub to organize these processes and improve sales productivity.
Why Look for ACT! Alternatives?
Despite the usefulness of ACT!, it has its share of limitations. For instance, some users have encountered problems with the platform’s syncing capabilities, stating that the software stumbles when working with MS Outlook. Other users report that the app tends to be resource-hungry, which may be a problem for computers with limited memory.
Similarly, some users found ACT! to be lacking in terms of ease-of-use, saying that less tech-savvy users may find it challenging to navigate the software. This makes onboarding a time-consuming task for sales and customer service teams.
If these weak spots are non-negotiables for your business, you can consider the ACT! alternatives we’ve listed here.
ACT! Alternatives
1. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 has proven to be one of the most feature-rich ACT! alternatives for small- and medium-sized businesses. The platform offers a free plan that provides powerful capabilities, albeit with a limited number of users. Paid plans, on the other hand, include data backups, time-tracking tools, and powerful reporting features.
The platform provides sales teams with tools for creating sales funnels, managing pipelines, and automating lead management. With its sales intelligence capabilities, the system also automatically tracks your marketing costs and calculates ROI. In this way, users are always updated on the status of their marketing and sales campaigns.
Like other apps on our list of CRM software, the platform offers collaboration as a core feature. With Bitrix 24, you can use videoconferencing, chat, shared calendars, and intranet, all from one platform. Likewise, activity streams keep everyone on the team updated on interactions with prospects and contacts.
2. Netsuite CRM
Netsuite CRM is another option for small- and medium-sized businesses looking for ACT! alternatives. As a cloud-based software, the platform provides a continuous view of the customer lifecycle. Reps and agents maintain access to customer information from the lead stages to sales and post-sales support.
Moreover, the software offers marketing automation features. By streamlining marketing processes, managers can finetune marketing campaigns and accurately measure each campaign’s success. The platform allows for multi-channel integration and tracks campaigns across email, social media, and events. Users can also create landing pages and templates through a drag-and-drop interface. According to our detailed marketing software research, Netsuite CRM is an excellent tool for organizing your business’ marketing efforts.
In addition to marketing automation, Netsuite CRM provides sales force automation. Real-time sales forecasting and visibility into sales pipelines help users predict conversion patterns. Plus, automated calculations for sales incentives ensure that agents spend less time double-checking commissions and more time making sales.
Netsuite CRM comes with a dashboard for a bird’s eye view of KPIs and forecasts.
3. Salesforce
With its capabilities for automating workflow, sales, and marketing processes, Salesforce proves to be one of the most versatile ACT! alternatives today. The platform is designed to streamline marketing, sales, and customer service processes, integrating these into a single platform.
To help marketing teams, Salesforce organizes data collection across multiple channels and allows users to combine data into unified data profiles. Likewise, the tool comes with AI features to help managers plan and optimize customer interactions and build new customer segments. Meanwhile, sales pipeline intelligence ensures that the databases are filled with high-quality, nurtured leads.
The platform offers highly flexible pricing, too. Its pricing plans start at $25 per user per month. You can also take advantage of free trials for these paid plans to test their features.
4. Zendesk Sell
Formerly known as Base CRM, Zendesk Sell provides a simple yet versatile user interface for sales reps and managers. The platform offers integrated tools to help reps and agents communicate with customers and keep the entire team in the loop. Users can also easily build sales pipelines to help agents prioritize high-value leads.
The platform’s built-in email tracking and activity reporting tools help agents and rep track sales activities. This ensures that customer data is always up-to-date. Prospect lists, targeted lead lists, and automated lead verification ensure that agents are as productive as possible. Users can also store scripts and notes directly on the platform for added convenience. Out-of-the-box integrations also ensure that users extend the platform’s capabilities to the apps they already use.
Comparatively, ZenDesk Sell also offers more affordable pricing plans, with the Team plan starting at $19 per seat per month. At $199 per seat per month, the platform’s most comprehensive plan lets users make unlimited sales pipelines and provides API access for ease of integration.
5. Insightly
Insightly is a popular CRM solution for businesses because of its unique features. The built-in features allow users to link related contacts and activities. This makes it easy for reps and agents to move between different records, improving overall productivity. The platform also lets managers set up milestones over periods and compare project performance and activity to these milestones.
Likewise, the platform offers workflow automation, generating tasks as leads reach different stages of the sales pipeline. Leads are also automatically routed to the right person at the right team so that sales reps can maximize sales opportunities. More importantly, built-in business intelligence features help managers discover data-backed insights and generate dashboards and reports with real-time, accurate data.
Insightly offers three paid plans with free trials. The platform’s Plus plan starts at $29 per user per month and includes built-in integrations with business software like G-Suite and Microsoft Office 365.
With Insightly, you can view total sales and gauge the value of your sales funnels right on the dashboard.
6. Lucrativ
Lucrativ provides various tools that sales reps and managers can use to accelerate processes and provide improved customer service. The platform allows users to build customized pipelines and quickly qualify prospects and leads. Gamification features and leaderboards encourage agents and teams to meet goals and improve overall sales performance.
Additionally, pipeline analysis and real-time insights help managers spot bottlenecks that affect sales performance and agent productivity. Similarly, the platform lets you customize workflows according to your sales pipeline. Triggers can be set up so tasks are automatically assigned to the right users. You can make the platform perform daily routine tasks so your reps can focus on converting leads into sales.
What’s unique about Lucrativ is that it comes with Lucy, an AI-powered CRM assistant. Through Lucy, users can schedule calls and meetings, answer client questions, and close deals.
7. amoCRM
amoCRM has the unique feature of being a messenger-based sales CRM. Through the platform, you can connect with leads and customers across multiple messengers. The software integrates with today’s most popular messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, and Skype. All conversations on these channels are combined into a unified inbox and synced in real-time for added convenience.
The platform also includes Salesbot; an AI chatbot developed using natural language processing technology. Salesbot can detect a lead or customer’s intentions during conversations, answering questions, and scheduling appointments if needed. Users also have the option to create their own chatbots through the platform’s visual chatbot builder. With all these features, it’s easy to see why amoCRM heads our list of sales software.
amoCRM’s pricing plans start at $15 per user per month. The software also offers free trials of its paid plans if you want to try out its features.
8. Capsule
Capsule offers straightforward CRM features to businesses of all sizes. The software provides robust contact management features and allows users to attach notes and documents to contact profiles. Tagging capabilities also make it easier for sales reps to segment leads and customers for more organized marketing campaigns. The same organization capabilities can be used for tasks, too, to help improve productivity.
Likewise, the platform adds transparency to your sales pipelines. You’ll be able to keep track of sales and get visibility over each stage of the pipeline, so you’ll see where potential blockages occur. Additionally, advanced sales reports provide managers with data-based insights for creating forecasts and strategies.
Capsule offers a free plan for up to two users and 250 contacts, plus paid plans that start at $18 per user per month.
Capsule makes it easy to organize contacts through tags and by location.
9. Really Simple Systems Cloud CRM
As its name suggests, Really Simple Systems Cloud CRM is a frills-free CRM software targeted at small businesses in the B2B industry. The software offers sales pipeline management and salesforce automation to streamline these processes and improve sales performance. Managers can also create sales forecasts to estimate the probability of a deal’s success and help reps and agents close more deals.
Plus, the software provides built-in tools to support marketing campaigns. Users can easily create emails through templates and create email schedules for each audience segment and list. Moreover, compliance with standards like GDPR and HIPPA ensures that the platform stores and processes customer data without compromising confidentiality.
The platform offers a free plan for up to 2 users, with features such as unlimited contacts and pipeline management. Paid plans for the software start at $14 per user per month.
10. Salsa CRM
Salsa CRM is a popular CRM and constituent relationship management database with specialized features for fundraising organizations. The platform helps organizations streamline donor data, integrating tools, donor data, and communications into one software. This helps staff save time and boost productivity, especially for tasks like data entry.
The software also makes it easy for staff to track donations and cultivate donor relationships through smart fundraising and householding tools. Furthermore, the platform helps organizations optimize fundraising strategies through dashboard analytics and built-in reports.
Additionally, Salsa CRM makes direct mail fundraising easier through powerful mail-merge capabilities and a built-in word processor.
What’s the Best Act! Alternative?
CRM software has obviously come a long way since ACT! was first released decades ago. Many CRM platforms today offer interfaces that may be easier to work with and functionalities that offer better benefits to your business. The best ACT! alternative is the software that can provide the features you need without compromising ease-of-use and customer data security.
The good news is that many of the CRM software on our list offer free trials and free plans. You can opt to go for these free trials to find out firsthand which ACT! alternative will work best for your needs.